This is the speech given by Terry Moore at the dedication of the SW Oleson Road gardens on October 18, 2008.

I’m Terry Moore and I’d like to welcome you all to the dedication of our new Oleson gardens on this most improbable day. Eight years ago when the Oleson project got underway, I thought the county would do this for us. Three years ago when the last Oleson hearing was held, I thought it wouldn’t happen at all.

But I got a call from Matt Costigan, the Oleson project manager, just before Christmas in 2005 and he said he’d like to work with the Garden Home Crossing Committee to achieve some of the things our community had wanted to be part of our new street. And here we are – thank-you all so much for making this happen.

For anyone here who doesn’t know how the Garden Home Crossing Committee got started, just a short history. When the intersection of Oleson and Garden Home Roads was rebuilt in 1995, a group of residents asked for the opportunity to plant some flowers in the little islands between the rec. center and the gas station on Garden Home Road. Their request was simple: “flowers, not just asphalt and concrete”. They didn’t want the heart of Garden Home to just be bare streets strewn with cigarette butts and the residue of car crashes.

Randy Lapo, Rich Marsh, Al Girard, and Wayne Sealander from Washington County worked with us to create the place our first garden could go. Most of these people are STILL involved in keeping the garden in Garden Home.

Today, we’re here to dedicate our 13 Oleson gardens, now stretching the entire length of the street, from Hall to Beaverton-Hillsdale, and tying the Metzger, Garden Home, and Raleigh Hills neighborhoods together.

By Terry Moore

Additional note by Elaine Shreve:

Many residents were initially against the major overhaul of Oleson, the cutting down of hundreds of trees lining the roadway and fearing such a change would bring even more traffic into the area. Chainsaw Massacre signs went up. But somewhere in the process, a new vision emerged of people using the sidewalks, bicycles safely on the road and flowers everywhere.

Terry Moore and the Crossing Committee recruited people from all over Garden Home to work on the gardens. Each section was designed by and generally named for the chairperson of that group. Work parties ensued. Washington County said this was the first time that residents had been allowed to work in the medians of any street. Terry continued to monitor the progress and problems of each section: the water got turned off, wrong type of trees planted or vandalism in the section.

Today hundreds of bright yellow daffodils line the roadsides of Oleson Road from Hall Boulevard to Beaverton-Hillsdale Highway. The beautiful vistas remind people why we love Garden Home. Thanks to Terry and Willy Moore and all of the residents who created this beauty.